Increase font size
Decrease font size
Increase Spacing
Decrease Spacing
Grayscale
Contrast
Dyslexia Font
Enlarge Cursor
Highlight Links
Reset
Relay Center

Encuentra lo que necesitas en segundos. Explora, descubre y obtén respuestas rápidas. ¡Comienza tu búsqueda ahora!

Calendario Académico

SIMCA

Programa LVMEN

PSI

GOU PAGOS

Home Noticias y Actualidad

Unicauca stands out in the UI GreenMetric Ranking: a firm commitment to environme...

Unicauca stands out in the UI GreenMetric Ranking: a firm commitment to environmental sustainability

30 April, 2026

Consolidating its presence in an international ranking that evaluates the commitment of educational institutions to sustainability and responsible practices in university management, the University of Cauca takes pride in its notable performance in the 2024 edition of the UI GreenMetric Ranking. For the evaluated period, which analyzed 1,477 universities worldwide, the caucana Alma Mater ranked 761st globally, 92nd in Latin America, and 36th in Colombia, achieving an impressive score of 6,012.5 points.

The UI GreenMetric World University Ranking, created in 2010 by the University of Indonesia, aims to evaluate universities’ commitment to environmental sustainability. This assessment is based on six key categories: infrastructure and setting, energy and climate change, waste management, water usage, transportation, and education and research. Through this evaluation, good practices and opportunities for improvement in university environmental management are identified.

To understand how the process operates, it is important to note that this ranking evaluates performance from the previous year and publishes its results with a one-month delay. This means that the results of the 2024 measurement were only released at the end of 2025. In this context, the University of Cauca stood out with a total score of 6,012.5 points, ranking 761st among the 1,745 participating universities worldwide. In the region, it placed 92nd among 205 institutions in Latin America and, at the national level, reached 36th place among the 58 participating universities in Colombia. Notably, among the country’s public universities, the University of Cauca ranked 12th, reflecting its institutional commitment to sustainability and environmental care, in alignment with its social and academic mission.

In this regard, Dr. Alexander Buendía, director of the Center for Quality Management and Institutional Accreditation, stated that “For the University of Cauca, and especially for the Environmental Management Committee, the results of this ranking are positive because they indicate that we are doing things well. Although we are aware of this, having an external entity validate that the environmental management we carry out at the University of Cauca is appropriate and demonstrates the institution’s commitment to maintaining and improving standards in terms of sustainability, very important at the global level, is great news.”

He also highlighted the relevance of this measurement in enabling comparison with institutions of similar characteristics worldwide: “It is positive insofar as we compare ourselves with other institutions, both public and private universities from around the world that participate in this ranking. What is interesting about UI GreenMetric is that it is specifically designed for universities, and the significant improvement we have achieved in the last year shows that we are on the right path,” he stated enthusiastically.

These results also demonstrate significant progress in the internal processes of managing institutional information related to sustainability. In this regard, the director also explained that “Where we have improved is in collecting information and reporting it. The ranking measures information that we handle on a daily basis, but which is highly dispersed across different areas, and what we do from the Environmental Management Committee is gather it from reliable sources, organize it, systematize it, and report it so that the ranking, based on its globally established criteria, determines the scores obtained.”

Finally, Dr. Buendía emphasized that the increase of more than one thousand points in a single year represents a significant advance for the University of Cauca. “Increasing by 1,000 points in one year is highly positive and demonstrates that systematic, organized, and thorough work is being carried out, validating what we do institutionally in terms of environmental sustainability and placing us in a truly significant position worldwide and in an important place at the national level,” he concluded.

Without a doubt, the participation of the caucana Alma Mater in the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking reaffirms its commitment as a university engaged with its environment, integrating environmental sustainability into its academic, administrative, and research processes, thereby contributing to the sustainable development not only of the region, but of the nation. This is a commitment that translates into responsible management with a positive impact on the university community and society, in line with the institutional purpose of transforming lives and making dreams come true, by educating citizens who are aware of their role in protecting the environment and of the responsibility that concerns us all in pursuit of a more sustainable future. In conclusion, the University of Cauca reaffirms its public vocation and social responsibility, strengthening itself, on the path to its bicentennial, as a collective good, #HeritageOfAll, at the service of development, equity, and the well-being of present and future generations.